AS Media Studies.

The aim of this task was to produce a front cover, contents page and double page spread of an original music magazine including at least 4 original photos. In order to do this I had to research a number of different existing music magazines so that I was fully aware of the conventions. From looking at a number of magazines of different genres, I found that many of the conventions were the same for the magazine but different according to the genre. For example for an indie magazine the conventions were mostly dark colours, mainly boys and individuality with a rebellious side. Whereas a Pop magazine had brighter colours, more women and were much more girly. The main conventions for a music magazine show that the cover star appears on the contents and the double page spread and this is highlighted clearly throughout. My magazine conforms to all the conventions. I analysed 3 different magazines which determined the genre I chose for my magazine. I did a LIIAR analysis on NME, Q and Shindig. Looking at these I found that that the conventions were pretty much the same for all three as they were of a similar genre and because I was familiar with this genre I chose to base my magazine around this. I originally wanted my genre to be a mix of Indie, Rock and Roll and Retro but as I created my products this changed slightly. I thought to aim my magazine at the same sort of audience that NME is attracted to. After researching NME I found that the type of shops that tend to sell this type of magazine are WHSmiths and HMV. I would hope that my magazine would be eligible to sell in these shops attracting the same kind of audience. Also I would say that the publisher for my magazine would be Bauer Media as they are a respectable publishing company that aren’t responsible for an indie magazine and so if they were to publish mine they would compete with IPC Publishing as they publish NME the equivalent to my magazine. In order to make sure it would sell, I set up a plan that helped me organise the way I would create my magazine.

I created a spider diagram to begin that listed all the potential names of my magazine. I did this as because I thought it would be an easier way of choosing and justifying why it would or would not work. I chose ‘Visual’ as my magazine name as I wanted my magazine to be more about image and not just sound. As I eventually chose to aim my magazine at female audience, I thought that image would appeal more to them as well as sound. Calling my magazine ‘Visual’ suggests that the image is just as important as the music and so that is why my strap line is ‘seen and heard’. All 3 of my products are bold and bright and so they are easily seen. This explains the visual side of the magazine.

As the audience I am targeting are teenagers. I thought that by having a teenager appear as my main cover star would relate to them more. I wanted my magazine products to represent the right social group so that they would be most likely to pick up my magazine. I originally wanted to have two female stars and have a duo but when it came to taking the photos, there were complications meaning I could only have one person. In the beginning I thought about aiming my magazine at both male and female but this idea changed throughout the process of making it. I asked 5 males if they would pick up a music magazine that had a female artist on the front. I explained what kind of artist she would be and what genre she was portraying. This then influenced the answer and 4/5 said they wouldn’t by the magazine. This then lead me to focus the magazine more for females that still fit into the category of teenagers. This was easier for me as I could relate to what girls may want to see in a music magazine. Before I took my photos I knew what I wanted. I wanted them to look quite vintage but involving music so thought about having a good use of iconography such as records and micro phones. These weren’t available at the time so I had to work with making them look more vintage and later adding effects. The mise en scene in my photos varies as there are images inside and out. I took a range of shots such as long shots, close ups, medium close ups and wide shots. I took different kinds of shots that I thought would be useful for all three products. Many of the photos I got were medium close ups and this was quite a good thing as I knew that these type of images would work for all three.

When in the process of taking the photos, I dressed up my cousin in a range of clothing that were appropriate for the genre of the magazine. In side the house I used lamps to reflect on to her whilst I took the photo. This provided me with some decent images and they were exactly what I was after. Outside it was quite cold with wintery scenery. I thought this would interrupt my pictures but in actual fact it worked well. I had to consider the feelings of my model as I didn’t want her to freeze but luckily I found a coat that was vintage and this worked really well. I was looking for the old fashion/ rock and roll look and the clothing reflected this. To add to this look I wanted to add a few props into the mise en scene. As these couldn’t be musically themed I compromised and went for the rock and roll side of it. I filled up a class of water making it appear like an alcoholic drink as well wrapping up a bit of white tissue to stand in as a cigarette. These worked very well in the photos but might not give the best representation to the audience. But the conventions of the rock and roll genre showed the rebel side so in order to follow them I decided that this would be a good thing to do. I also did the makeup on the model and decided to draw a peace symbol on her face representing the retro genre. I liked this idea and I used this picture as my double page spread photo. Making my photos look more iconic I changed the colour. I used sepia and black and white as the main colours as this makes them look quite authentic. Along with these photos I also had images from when I went to the wireless and freedom festival. I got very clear pictures of artists such as Pink and The ting tings and so I thought by having these feature throughout my magazine may continue the theme of music as these looked more musically set up then the ones I took in doors. These artists also influence the style of my magazine so it looked conventional with the genre.

My first attempt at my music magazine failed miserably. I used a house style of bright colours and ‘hippy’ theme adding to the retro side of my genre. It didn’t quite work out the way I wanted it to so and I don’t think it would have been publishable. The front cover followed the conventions as it had a mast head, bar code and cover lines but I didn’t feel it looked professional enough. I don’t think it would have appealed to my audience. Because of this, I changed my idea completely just focusing on the indie and vintage genres. I choose to use one of the photos I had taken of my cousin as the main background for my front cover. In order to do this I had to manipulate the photo so that it was how I wanted. I cropped and changed the contrast of the colours using Adobe Photoshop. The image was shot in medium close up with the face been more in focus then anything else but I cropped it to just a close up of the face. I thought that this may not work for a front cover image as I didn’t want the cover lines to overlap the image as that wouldn’t have been conventional however once I added my mast head to it I thought that I could work my way around the image and so I used this as my photo.

Following conventions on the front cover, I included a masthead at the top of my page in the left side corner, a bar code, cover lines and a house style of colours that show consistency throughout the rest of my products. When creating this I changed it a number of times as it didn’t quite follow all the conventions as the mast head was slightly out of focus. It was at first just one letter with the word ‘Visual’ across it. This wasn’t that visible to the reader and the cover line was more attracting then this was and so I had to change it. I experimented by having the mast head in the same place but just simply writing the name of the magazine. I didn’t think this would work as it may overlap the cover star but it did and it was now more conventional. My strap line ‘seen and heard’ works well with my magazine name ‘Visual’ as it states what the artists are trying to do. Image is just as important as sound and so using both words conveying the same purpose shows this .It also creates familiarity for the audience. My main cover line ‘Jesselo-ve?’ is a play on words and is the main story that is written about on the double page spread. As I have chosen to do an artist that has recently just come into the limelight I have made the cover line reflect this. My artist is called Jesse Lo and the audience wont of seen or heard of her yet meaning they would need to learn to love or hate her. I have chosen to separate the word love as it is part of her name and love is the feeling that may be felt towards this artist once the audience have gotten to know her. My magazine is what will potentially sell the artist to the audience so in order to portray her the right way the magazine has to be appealing. By this I mean it has to attract the right audience in the right way.

The first thing that the consumer sees is the front cover so it is important that it would catch their eye. As a way of doing this, I have included selling lines such as ‘win VIP tickets to Glastonbury’ as this makes the audience think they are getting more than what they bargained for. I also included ‘All the biggest names waiting for you’ I am directly reaching the audience by including the pronoun ‘you’. It’s direct and includes them making them feel a part of something.

Making my contents page was slightly more simple then the front cover. I originally only thought about using one picture and so I only experimented with one. I knew from the beginning what photo I wanted to use. This image was taken as a medium shot. Looking at existing music magazines I found that the contents pages all had the word contents on it as well as a list of page numbers that listed what was contained in the magazine. Conventionally I have the word contents spread across the top of the page with the page number etc. listed down the right hand side. This is something that was altered at the very end as I experimented a lot with the contents page. I originally only wanted 1 photo on my contents page but from looking at existing music magazine contents page I found that more than one image was included. I decided to follow conventions and use more than one picture. The pictures I used were suitable and were represented in a good, musical way. I positioned them over and over again until they were right and then included anchorage to make them more realistic and professional as this is something that happens with all pictures in any magazine. I also added an editor’s word which isn’t also popular in music magazines. I originally wasn’t going to do this but decided to follow conventions and so it is now more like a music magazine contents page. I knew that the contents page had to be appealing to the audience in order for them to want to read on. An essential part of all music magazines is to make sure it attracts the audience at all times.

My double page spread was slightly harder then the rest of my products as my photo as I had to produce the background image from scratch. I knew what photo I wanted from the start as I knew the picture would work well for a double page. However as I had taken the picture in a portrait form I knew that in order to make it how I wanted I had to manipulate the photo. Using Adobe Photoshop I placed the original photo on the right side of the page. I wanted the bricks to continue across the page so that it was the background and as the picture didn’t go that far, I had to copy and paste a section of the bricks making it sure it covered the full page. This took time as I wanted it to look professional but this is what I wanted so I went with the idea. It gives it a certain ideology that is right for attracting my audience. Looking at existing double page spreads I found that many of them have the main heading based at the top of the page with the text either down one side or all over the page. Interviews had a pull out quote that was placed in-between text. In 0rder to follow conventions this is something I need my double page spread to do. My first attempts weren’t all that good. My cover line was placed in different places for each draft I did. This shows I experimented and did a number of drafts before I created my final product. I did this so I knew what worked and what didn’t and it also gave me practice using Adobe Photoshop. My double page spread referred back to my main cover line on my front page. This shows the consistency I was aiming my magazine to have. The interview I did was with the artist asking questions on the newly claim to fame she has just found. I also made the artist the age of 18 as this is most likely going to attract girls that age meaning my target audience will be met.

The pictures above show the picture I started with for the double page spread then the later improved version. As my picture doesnt fit the full page I had to copy and paste selections of the bricks form the original picture. The picture on the right shows this completed with extra detail for my final product.

To meet conventions of the indie genre, I knew that the type of style had to be quite individual. Indie isn’t really associated with the ‘girly’ style and so I had to change a few minor things. My magazine has a theme of colours that are quite bright and could maybe be seen as conventions of a pop magazine. This isn’t what I was aiming for and so I think that maybe some elements of indie have been taken away. However I think the bright colours relate to the fact it is a female based magazine and so this makes it more appealing to them. The elements of indie tie in with the images used as well as the font. I have tried to make this consistent throughout all three products.

From my audience feedback I have found that my magazine has been a success. I created a questionnaire that included 10 questions that allowed me to collect qualitative and quantitative data. The questions I asked were based upon my magazine and asked for opinions and improvements. When I asked what genre they thought my magazine was, they were allowed to circle more than one answer. The most popular choice was indie with 90% of people choosing this as an option. This has given me a great result as it shows my magazine has followed the conventions of indie and this is easy recognised to my audience. However the other 2 popular choices were Retro and Pop. I am happy the retro was noticed as I felt it lost some of this look. My pictures are the only retro thing about my magazine which may be a weakness however as there is some elements of the genre it hasn’t failed completely. I too feel as well as some of the people I asked, that my magazine shows signs of the genre Pop. The bright colours and cluttered pictures and text make it look quite fussy which is similar to some of the pop magazines I have seen. The front cover and double page spread look more Pop than the contents page. I think this is because brighter colours are used. The contents page shows the most Indie and I think this is down to the style of font I have used for the word contents. As the top result was Indie, I don’t think I will change anything in order for it to look more conventional. Indie is the most noticeable genre and this is what I was aiming for.

Attracting the right audience is an important part of selling a magazine. For one of my questions I asked them What age group they think my magazine would most likely be drawn to magazine. 9 out of 10 people said people between the ages of 16-20 would most likely read my magazine. This is a positive result as once again my aim has been met. I was targeting my audience to teenagers and my results from my audience showed this. Also 9 out of 10 people said they would by my magazine. The one person that said they wouldn’t didn’t give me a negative as the genre of music didn’t appeal to them. This surprisingly gave me a positive as I knew then that the genre I wanted to put across did its job as non-indie lovers didn’t want to buy it. This showed that I followed the conventions of Indie/Retro as they were noticeable to those who love it and those who don’t. From my feedback I also found that 100% of people thought that my magazine is consistent throughout. This has made me more positive about my magazine as this is something I thought it lacked however if it is receiving good feedback from an audience then it cant be that much of a problem. The fact that the person who said they wouldn’t buy my magazine still said it was consistent also shows that my magazine can still receive positives from those it doesn’t appeal to.

I gave the questionnaire to 10 females as this is the audience I was wanting to target. During the actual process of making it I asked a few males if they would buy the magazine and most of them said they wouldn’t. This shows I have researched all different types of audience to see if my magazine appeals to the right people.

From all my audience feedback and actual creation of the magazine, I still think that Bauer Media would be the perfect distributor to publish my magazine. I think it could compete with NME as it has a strong love for music and it appeals to the right audience. That being females. The image of it is most appealing which is a good thing as that is what the consumer is to look for first.

Advantages and Disadvantage of my three final products

(Advantages)

The image of the magazine is bright and bold which will more likely grab the consumers attention.
The name of my magazine ‘Visual’ works with how it looks.
I have followed the conventions of a music magazine.
My pictures are used effectively.
My chosen genre is reflected to the audience.
My magazine is represented in a decent way.
The purpose and audience is clearly noticed from my front cover.
The use of colours are consistent.

(Disadvantages)

· Elements of the genre Pop can be seen in my front cover and double page spread.

· I thought it lacked consistency, mostly with the contents page however this changed once I got my audience feedback.

· The representation of my pictures may be bad especially the double page spread. (smoking)

· Only targeted at girls when boys may want to read this magazine too.

· More iconography may have been useful i.e. microphones, records, guitars.

· Colours may be a bit too bright for the genre.

· Double page spread looks a little cluttered.

· Contents page images look really clammed together.

From doing this task I have learnt how to use a number of programmes successfully. Before I began to do this task I had experienced using Adobe Photoshop but I wasn’t yet familiar with it. I have learnt that using layers helps a lot as I can easily remove things I don’t like and I can experiment more without taking to long. This task has helped me to understand how it works and I now can use Adobe Photoshop without any any assistance. I used this programme for all three of my products, without it I dont think I would have got the results I got. It allowed me to do lots of different things such as editing photos, changing font, cropping images as well as creating a number of different drafts. To complete the foundation portfolio I also used blogger to present my work. At the beginning I though blogger was harder to use then Adobe Photoshop. This was down to the layout and where images and text ended up. Throughout the course I have gotten more familiar with it and now I canwithout a problem. I think using blogger was a good way of presenting our work as it allows you to edit what you have wrote. I can post everything I have done without a problem and I can later go back to a post and add extra pieces. It is also a quicker way as you don’t have to rely on a printer that may have complications and even charge you money.

Looking back to when I completed the preliminary task, I think I have learnt a lot. Not only have I learnt how to use the programmes correctly but there is an improvement in my work. I think I have got to know the terminology really thoroughly and so I know now how to use it in the correct way. I have learnt that the more drafts the better as experimenting will benefit the overall finished product. This is something that Adobe Photoshop helped me with. I have come familiar with the conventions of a magazine and this is why I think my music magazine is better then my college magazine cover.

My college magazine looks like I have just begun which wasnt so easy to tell back then but you can now. I was afraid to put too much on the front cover as I though that it would look a bit messy and it may go against conventions. I have experimented more with this task and it shows with my final outcome.

Also my college magazine shows that I only used photoshop quite basic as there isnt really anything that stands out significantly. My music magazine shows signs out manipulation to the photos and text which makes it look better all around.

My presentation skills have also gotten better throughout this task. As I didnt know how to really use Blogger in the preliminary task, I would put pictures and text where ever they could fit. I have taken my time on my music magazine making sure everything is clear to see and is easy to understand what I did and why I did it.Things I would improve for the future would be not to rush my self and to take my time with the ideas I come up with. I tend to rush so that I meet deadlines and I think some times this can shine through in my work. I would maybe do a few extra experiments trying to use every photo I managed to get so that I have a good idea what works and what doesn’t.